KineMed Inc. joins with Isis Pharmaceuticals and CHDI Foundation in Huntington’s disease research
CHDI Foundation, based in Los Angeles (CA, USA), has entered into a collaboration to advance the discovery of biomarkers for clinical and pre-clinical use in the treatment of Huntington’s disease sufferers.
Biotech company, KineMed, Inc., based in Emeryville (CA, USA), Isis Pharmaceuticals (Carlsbad, CA, USA), and non-profit organization, CHDI Foundation (Los Angeles, CA, USA), are to collaborate in order to advance the discovery and development of therapies for Huntington’s disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The agreement, which builds upon an earlier alliance between CHDI and KineMed, comprises the employment of KineMed’s translational biomarker platform combined with Isis’s antisense technology to develop novel biomarkers that may be used for antisense drug development and therapeutic monitoring, in the treatment of Huntington’s disease.
“There is a critical need to identify appropriate biomarkers to determine target engagement and predict early clinical efficacy for future Huntington’s disease clinical trials,” said Jonathan Bard, Director of Molecular Pharmacology at CHDI Foundation.”
Commenting on the collaboration, Patrizia Fanara, Vice President of Neuroscience at KineMed said, “With the Huntington’s disease domain knowledge that CHDI brings and the therapeutic approach that Isis is pioneering, this partnership has the potential to develop biomarkers for specific therapeutics for Huntington’s disease and lead to personalized medicines for Huntington’s patients.”